Bird watching: killdeer

Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor mentions a killdeer.

I think, for years, I’ve had a relationship with a killdeer.

At night, I would often run in a nearby field. It was dark enough that I could see where I was going, but not beyond.

At times during the run, particularly in winter, I would suddenly hear a bird: kee kee kee kee… Obviously I’d disturbed it.

The bird’s reaction was always a surprise. It would happen in different parts of the field, far from each other, on different nights. I couldn’t have planned a route to prevent it. It always happened deep inside the field, remote of cover: the bird must have been on open ground.

The killdeer nests in the open, and lives here all year. It will happily inhabit a parking lot or other human-made clearing. I’ve always thought of it as a shore bird, but it does well inland, too.

Sorry, killdeer. I’ve never seen you, nor can I seem to avoid you. Anyway, I’d hope you’d be used to me by now:)

Source:

Hoar, DeSmet, et al. Birds of Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.